Purdy: Jed York grows up as 49ers owner

Jim Harbaugh and owner Jed York shake hands as General Manager Trent Baalke holds a helmet after a 49ers pressconference at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California on Friday, January 7, 2011. The San Francisco 49ers announced Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach. (Jim Gensheimer/Mercury News)

This makes it official. As of now, Jed York is no longer a kid. He's still 29 years old, but I can't call him Kid York any more.

Not after what happened Friday. Not after the 49ers' owner/operator grew up as an NFL executive right before our eyes. Not after he ended a week of speculation and wild Internet piranha feeding by pulling off the one thing that many people were wondering if York could accomplish:

He hired Jim Harbaugh, the hottest coaching commodity in football, away from Stanford to lead the 49ers out of the NFL mediocrity wilderness.

"It was obviously a stressful week," York said afterward.

From the outside, it didn't just look stressful. It looked completely and totally freakazoid nuts.

York and new 49ers general manager Trent Baalke first interviewed Harbaugh on Wednesday afternoon for six to seven hours at a private home that belonged to one of York's friends on the peninsula. The meeting broke up with Harbaugh promising to seriously consider the 49ers' offer of about $5 million per year for five years.

But then, over the next 48 hours, reports surfaced that the Miami Dolphins were going to offer Harbaugh up to $8 million per year ... and that the Denver Broncos wanted their own interview ... and that the University of Michigan, Harbaugh's alma mater, was also a player ... and that Stanford alums were prepared to almost match the 49ers' financial package to keep Harbaugh.

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York, however, stayed calm as he nursed a case of the flu and waited for the circus to end. His feeling was that if Harbaugh really wanted to coach the 49ers, he would come around and strike a deal. And if Harbaugh didn't want to coach the 49ers, it wouldn't happen.

"You can't make this about the money," York said. "It had to be the right fit."

And damned if he wasn't right, according to Harbaugh.

"I wanted to be here as much or more than they wanted me here," he said.

So there you are. Harbaugh may or may not turn out to be the man who shakes the 49ers from their non-playoff torpor. However, he has a better shot at doing so than anyone currently on the open market. Stanford's impressive 40-12 victory in the Orange Bowl made Harbaugh even more of a catch. But the 49ers had him on their radar through the autumn. And their sales pitch to him clearly worked.

Even so, York definitely grasps why some 49ers fans were skeptical about whether he and Baalke could navigate the treacherous NFL coaching-search waters to land Harbaugh.

"I understand that," York said. "I'm 29 years old, Trent's a first-time general manager. People are going to have questions. And we haven't done anything yet. It's time to get to work."

Friday, after York was introduced to musical fanfare at the start of a news conference, he made the conscious decision to stay out of the spotlight. York did not even sit on the stage with Harbaugh and Baalke as they spoke and took questions.

Afterward, when cornered by reporters, York also deferred credit.

"Trent is the guy I hired," York said, "and Trent was the guy who hired Jim."

Nevertheless, York played an important role in the lengthy meeting with Harbaugh two days earlier. Baalke did 90 percent of the 49ers' talking during the interview. However, York sat in on the whole discussion -- and spoke up only when talking about the big picture.

"Jed talked about his vision," Harbaugh said. "It was productive. ... That sealed the deal."

York's favorite part of the meeting probably occurred when Baalke pulled out some special custom clothing he had ordered. They were khaki work shirts. The 49ers' logo and the names "Trent" and "Jim" stitched on the left upper chest of the shirts. The message was that Baalke wanted the two of them to roll up their sleeves together and get going on the 49ers rebuild.

Said York: "It was good for me to watch and see as the discussion with Trent and Jim went from 'This is an interview' to 'This is how we can build a team together.'"

York admitted, also, that he leaned on his uncle, former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., for guidance during the process. And when the deal was done, with everyone riding together to San Francisco for the Friday news conference, York called DeBartolo and put him on the phone with the new 49ers head coach.

"My uncle's fired up," York said.

And what did York plan to do next?

"Sleep," he said.

Not like a baby, though. Forget those analogies, from this point forward. He managed this coaching search like a veteran. No matter what happens after this, he is definitely the Non-Kid York.